HMS Echo in Valletta, Malta |
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| Career (UK) | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 19 June 2000[1] |
| Builder: | Appledore Shipbuilders, Bideford |
| Launched: | 4 March 2002[1] |
| Sponsored by: | Lady Haddacks |
| Commissioned: | 7 March 2003[1] |
| Homeport: | HMNB Devonport, Plymouth |
| Identification: | Pennant number: H87 International callsign: GAAC[2] |
| Motto: | Latin: Marte et Art ("By Mars and Art") |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| Badge: | |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Displacement: | 3470 tons |
| Length: | 90.6 m (297 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 16.8 m (55 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric 3 × diesel generators (4.8 MW) 2 × 1.7 MW (2,279 hp) azimuth thrusters 1 × 0.4 MW (536 hp) bow thruster |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range: | 9,300 nmi (17,200 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Endurance: | 35 days |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
Survey motor boat[3] |
| Complement: | 72 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Integrated Survey System,[3] comprising:
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| Armament: |
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HMS Echo is the first of two multi-role hydrographic survey ships commissioned by the Royal Navy. With her sister ship, HMS Enterprise, they form the Echo class of survey vessels. She was built by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon in 2002[4] and is the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name.
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Echo and Enterprise are the first Royal Navy ships to be fitted with azimuth thrusters. Both azimuth thrusters and the bow thruster can be controlled through the Integrated Navigation System by a joystick providing high manoeuvrability. Complete control and monitoring for power generation and propulsion, together with all auxiliary plant systems, tank gauging and damage control functions is provided through the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), accessible through workstations around the ship.
Echo and her sister ship are designed to conduct survey operations in support of submarines or amphibious operations. She can provide almost real-time tailored environmental information, and also has a secondary role as a Mine Countermeasure Tasking Authority platform, for which she is capable of embarking a dedicated Mine Counter Measures command team.[3]
Echo operates a lean-manned three-watch rotation system. The total ship's company is 72, with two-thirds of the ship's company on board at any one time. The work cycle of 75 days on followed by 30 days off allows her sailors to take sufficient leave while the ship can remain away from her base port for extended periods, potentially for years at a time.[5]
Echo was launched on 2 March 2002 and was named on 4 March by Lady Haddacks, wife of Vice Admiral Sir Paul Haddacks.[4] She was accepted into service on 4 October 2002 and formally commissioned on 7 March 2003.[4]
Echo deployed to the Persian Gulf to conduct survey operations in 2004, returning to the UK in April 2005.[3]
Exploiting her rotational manning system, Echo is currently deployed on a five-year mission to the Far East, conducting ocean survey and diplomatic visits.[6]
In August 2008 she visited Hong Kong, where her Commanding Officer laid a wreath at the Stanley Military Cemetery.[7] In October of the same year she visited Busan for the Republic of Korea International Fleet Review.[8] Other visits have been conducted to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia.[9]
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